Page 29 of Recovering Ivy (Red Team #4)

Zane

Declan and I had scoped out the warehouse Forester had rented.

It was in a shit area and I was happy to see he’d gone the extra mile and set up security cameras on the outside of the building.

It had taken Garrett two-point-five seconds to hack into his system and disable the feed after he’d downloaded the last months’ worth of footage.

“Ready for a little B and E?” I asked.

“Hell, yeah.”

We made our way around the building to a side door and had both the deadbolt and the door lock picked in under a minute.

“Fucking amateur,” Declan said when I opened the door.

The many windows that ran along the wall near the ceiling provided enough light we didn’t need to turn on the overhead fluorescent fixtures. The warehouse wasn’t very big, a single story with one open floor. There was a palate of backpacks and one with corrugated boxes.

“Something's not right. He’s not making his drugs here. There’s not even tables,” Declan noted .

I walked to the stack of boxes and found one that had been opened. I reached in and pulled out a clear plastic tube of tennis balls. “What the fuck?”

“Tennis balls?” He peeked in the box before he stopped and counted. “Twelve boxes of tennis balls? Something's not right.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. When I pulled it out and entered my security code, a message from Garrett appeared.

“Time to roll. Inbound. ETA three minutes,” I told him.

“There’s nothing here anyway,” he said, grabbing a plastic tube of balls and following me to the door.

Declan and I made our way out of the building, not bothering to lock the deadbolt.

We watched from behind a nearby dumpster as Forester exited his car and a woman dressed in business attire stepped out of the passenger side.

This woman was well put together, nothing like his normal companions.

They made their way into the building and disappeared inside.

“Fuck, it smells back here,” Declan complained. “I sent Garrett her picture.” he told me and pocketed his phone. “If I had to guess, I’d say she’s the pimp, way too classy to be his woman.”

“I’d say you’re right, only she’d call herself a madam or some shit equally as…” Before I could finish my sentence, Forester and the woman came back out of the warehouse at a fast clip, both carrying boxes. Neither spoke and neither looked happy.

“They’re in a hurry,” Declan whispered. Once the boxes were loaded into the back seat, they got in and Forester pulled out of the alley. “What the hell was that?”

“Fuck if I know. Come on.”

We jogged out to the street where we left my car. By the time we got in, Garrett had sent Declan a workup on our mystery woman.

“Barbara Chase, forty-nine, priors include: solicitation, pandering, possession. And those are only in the last ten years. Before that she has: theft, B and E, assault, and grand theft auto.”

“Isn’t she a gem?” I commented. “Did he find a connection to Forester?”

“Not yet. Garrett is still working on it. Home address is in Grasonville. She has a business registered, Illusions, LLC, office address is in Edgewater. Pulling up the website now.” After a few beats Declan continued, “It says they are a fantasy fulfillment agency. Only thing listed is a phone number to book your illusion.”

“Well, if that doesn’t sound like a call-girl service I don’t know what does.”

I pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the office before I changed my mind and flipped a U-turn.

“I think we need to have another chat with Destiny.”

“What the fuck? We can’t just show up at her house. Forester might have someone on her and her kid is there.”

“Do I look like I’m wet behind the ears?”

A few minutes later we pulled into a nice, quiet, well-kept neighborhood not far from where Linc and Jasmin lived. The houses in this area would be far out of the price range of a single working mother.

“Who pays for the house?” I asked Declan.

“She does.”

“How the hell does she afford this neighborhood?” I pulled to a stop sign and shot Jaxon a text that we were pulling into the neighborhood. When my phone beeped with the all-clear, I continued .

“Really? You need to ask?” He grimaced. “Not only is she worried about her daughter, but you think she wants to give up all this for an apartment and a nine-to-five as a check-out girl?”

I thought about his question and tried to plan the best angle to approach Amy. He was right, her way of living would drastically change when we took down Forester.

“She can’t enjoy being a whore.” The growl that came from Declan took me by surprise. I hoped like hell it was simply an aversion to the word whore and nothing more.

“She doesn’t have a choice,” he ground out.

“We always have a choice, Dec.”

“Some people don’t,” he snapped.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means sometimes we have to eat shit because there is no other option. Just because someone does something bad when their back is against a wall doesn’t make them a bad person.”

“And you think I don’t fucking know that?”

“Not everything is black and white,” he murmured.

“I’m well acquainted with all the shades of gray. And if you’re talking about what Violet did, it’s in the past. Your sister did what she had to do.”

“I’m not talking about my sister.”

Shit. I didn’t make it a habit of prying into my team’s personal life, but something was obviously bothering Declan.

He’d spent almost a year black, in deep cover.

I knew from experience the way that could fuck with a man’s head.

You’re expected to do and say things to blend in, most of which are morally incomprehensible.

“We all had to do shit while we were under we’re not proud of,” I told him.

“I don’t want to talk about this. ”

Jaxon’s car came into view nearing the conversation to an end.

“I get that but…”

“You wanna talk about why you keep a drawer full of folded flags and spent bullet cartridges in your desk?”

My teeth started to ache my jaw was clenched so tight. “Copy. Loud and clear.”

“Right.”

I’d forgotten Declan saw the flags in my desk, my daily remember of the men I’d lost. Ten flags folded with military precision, all presented to me after I brought them home from places that would never make it in their service record.

Each flag was used to drape the pine box I sat with during transport. Ten good men who would never come home.

“We need her to give up Forester and Illusions. I prefer not to have to go bad cop on her again. I know Jasmin thinks I get off on being an asshole, but I don’t enjoy making women cry.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Declan said and exited the car.

I watched him jog across the street and Jaxon got in my Rover, occupying Declan’s vacated seat.

“What did you guys find at the warehouse?” he asked.

“A whole lotta nothing. Pallets of backpacks and tennis balls.” I reached in the back seat and grabbed the plastic sleeve and handed it to Jaxon.

“What the hell?”

“Exactly. He’s not manufacturing or packaging there. It was empty.”

“Hopefully, Garrett will find something,” he said as he inspected the packaging. “You can buy these at any sporting goods store. Nothing special.”

“Declan seem off to you?” I asked, regretting my words as soon as they left my mouth .

“Look at you, all touchy-feely and shit. I don’t know what magical spell Ivy has you under, but it’s been hours since you’ve threatened to shoot someone. It must be working.”

“We can change that,” I growled. I wasn’t particularly comfortable discussing feelings and Jaxon wasn’t making it any easier. “Declan,” I prompted.

“He has nightmares. Still working through some shit. South America wasn’t pretty. He was under with a cartel that used human mules; he saw a lot of fucked-up shit and couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it.”

“Is he talking to you?”

“About as much as he’s talking to you.”

“Fuck.”

“That about sums it up. He just needs time to readjust.”

I thought about what Jaxon said and hoped he was right. I had been so wrapped up in my own shit I’d let Declan down and hadn’t noticed the signs. That needed to change.

My phone beeped, and Garrett’s name flashed across the display.

“Zane,” I answered the phone on speaker.

“The only connection I can find between Forester and Barbara is they belong to the same country club. Forester’s not listed on Illusions client roster. Though I have to say, if this list ever came out, there would be plenty of pissed off power players both in Baltimore and D.C.,” Garrett said.

“Goddamn. Anyone we know?”

“Oh, yeah. You’re gonna shit a brick when you see the list.”

“Mother….” I let my curse trail off. I wanted to ask Garrett to tell me now but neither of us were on a secure line and if the list was as bad as he’d made it sound, I wouldn’t risk it. “I’ll be in soon. ”

I disconnected the call and looked away from Amy’s house to Jaxon.

“What are you thinking?” I inquired.

“Backpacks, tennis balls, and country clubs. The answer is right in front of us,” he answered, popping the lid off the container, taking out the green balls. “Why the fuck would he need a pallet of tennis balls?”

“Hell if I know. Hopefully, Amy gave Declan something. Here he comes now.”